Cathedral City man convicted of child sexual assault charges

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) - A Cathedral City man who molested two boys pleaded guilty to child sexual assault charges Friday at the Larson Justice Center.

David Hadley Pio, 67, on Friday admitted two counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old under a pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. In exchange for Pio's admissions, prosecutors agreed to drop two related felony charges against the defendant.

Pio is scheduled to be sentenced on June 12. He is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

Pio was originally arrested for the crime in July 2012.

His case has been pending adjudication for more than a decade. It was unclear how much of his time in county jail may be credited toward his prison sentence. It's possible he may receive only a "paper" prison commitment, avoiding further time behind bars.

In 1994, Pio was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct, penetration with a foreign object and forced sodomy on a person under 14, but the case was later dismissed, according to a declaration in support of a search warrant by CCPD.

He reportedly worked as a local youth-sports volunteer and allowed juveniles to frequent his home, police said.

Stay with News Channel 3 for any new developments.